Elvis Perkins in Dearland

Providence's Elvis Perkins writes the world-weary songs of a troubadour who's seen some things. He has been compared to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, touring partners Okkervil River, and the falsetto of the ubiquitous Jeff Buckley.

This is a man who knows serious sorrow. His famous father, Anthony, died of AIDS in 1992, and his mother, Berry Berenson, died aboard one of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers. His distress pours forth in some of his songs in the form of anguished guitars, melancholic string sections, lonely harmonica notes, and his trembling tenor. But he does have optimism on his side too, as his notes can just as often lift the spirit up. He's a diverse talent that should be inking a record deal any day now.